The Stark County Board of Elections agreed to hired three new employees on Tuesday.

The hires are :

• Tiffany Ewing of Alliance, who has worked part-time at the election office since September.

• Teresa Welch of Canton, who has experience as a schools and college administrative assistant and formerly worked as an elections clerk in Butler County, according to her resume.

• Steven Tharp, Jr., who, according to his resumé, is the operations and maintenance coordinator for American Environmental Group.

All three will be clerks, though their duties will not be identical. They will be paid $15.60 per hour to start. They fill three long-existing vacancies, said Board of Elections Director Jeff Matthews.

"These are exceptionally qualified people," said board member William Cline.

The Board set its regular meeting date for the year as the first Tuesday after the first Monday of each month — which coincides with election days.

However, they will next meet Feb. 17 to certify which candidates and issues will be included on May 6 primary ballots.